Darkness of HajinMon
by Bill The Bard
Summary: Ayane follows Genra's instructions to gather the secret scrolls of the HajinMon tradition. In doing so, she uncovers the dark secret at its heart that threatens the very fabric of the world.
1. Notes and prologue

DISCLAIMER: 

The characters from Dead or Alive belong to Team Ninja. All others are mine. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copy write to me. 

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at 

_italics_ indicates unusual words or characters' thoughts 

Notes : 

The shinobi philosophy is largely Buddhist in origin, as opposed to the Shinto beliefs of mainstream Japanese society. In particular, the Tendai and Shingon sects are major sources of shinobi spiritual beliefs, befitting the believed origins of the shinobi ways in the arrival in Japan of Chinese monks and military commanders fleeing the fall of T'ang China in about AD 900. However, over the years shinobi beliefs have become an amalgam of Buddhist, Shinto and some Taoist ideas. 

A few words on, well, words. The _kanji_ characters spelling _ninja ("_one who endures") also say _shinobi no mono_ ("one who steals in" or "one who hides"). Japanese _kanji_ characters frequently have multiple pronunciations, as given previously, which also means that a given word might have different, often quite separate, meanings. 

A ryu = familial tradition 

Ninpo = the philosophy of ninjutsu 

Taijutsu = the shinobi way of martial arts 

Names : 

A few name translations, for those interested. 

Mugen - infinite 

Ten - Heaven 

Shin - truth/faith, trust/fidelity, core/heart 

Jin - benevolence 

Haji - shame 

Mon - gate, but can also mean a family crest or badge 

So, 

Mugen Tenshin - Heaven's Infinite Heart or Heaven's Infinite Truth, or Heaven's Infinite Trust. I will settle for Heaven's Infinite Truth, as it better fits in with 

TenjinMon - Mark of Heaven's Benevolence (Truth and Benevolence go together better than Heart and Benevolence) 

HajinMon - Mark of Shame (I wonder why TenjinMon is more popular ..... ) 

Ayame - Iris 

Ayane - _Aya_ = woven silk, _ne _= price or cost. So _Ayane = _Price of Woven Silk (or maybe Expensive/Costly as Woven Silk would be better?). Alternatively, in Buddhist tradition, ayane is chanted during certain ceremonies, where it means 'on the day when the sun begins to move north' or 'in the solar movement' 

Kasumi - Mist 

Hayate - _haya = _fast, _te _= hand, so 'Fast-hand' 

Ryu (actually Ryuu) - style/method, kill/axe 

Hayabusa - 'fast bird', meaning the peregrine falcon 

So Ryu Hayabusa could mean 'kill(ing) like a peregrine falcon' 

And after all that, ONWARD! 

**Darkness Of HajinMon - prologue**

****

Bright sunlight angled down through the tree canopy, casting dark shadows on the ground. It struck the roof of the small shrine, illuminating the sloping roof and straight, wooden walls. The peeling paint showed the effects of years of weathering, yet the structure retained its grace and elegance despite the ravages of time, and the accumulated debris of years of neglect. 

Yet it seemed that there was something .... wrong .... about the place. The sunlight seemed to dim as it struck the _Jinja_ and its surroundings, as if something unseen was obscuring the light. And a visitor would also note that there was silence in the vicinity of the shrine. No birds sang or perched on the _Torii _in front of the shrine, no insects hummed, no reptiles basked on the hot earth. 

And, despite the heat of the midday sun, the dark, hidden interior of the shrine radiated a .... coldness .... which should not have been. Coldness, and a sense of watchfulness. 

Like a predator in ambush, it crouched in the sun, and waited ...... 

------------------------------------------------ 

_It looks like - yes, those are the same characters as on the scroll Genra showed me._ _So there should be an opening of some kind - _

__

She slid her tanto along the wooden surface of the wall, searching for any kind of indentation which might mark the edge of a panel. She stiffened. A slight notch, just there. Barely visible, yet she had felt it. 

She took a deep breath of the stale air, then slowly eased the tip of her knife into the now just visible gap. Then she carefully moved to one side, before exerting pressure on the knife in order to open the panel. 

A sudden twang and the hiss and thud of something passing through the air where she'd been crouching only seconds before, striking the charred and blackened wooden wall beyond, told her that her precautions had been worthwhile. 

_Father made sure that anyone not intended to read these scrolls would die before they had the chance to open them. Assuming they could ever find them._

__

__She stood up, noting absently that the two ninjas assigned to escort her were close at her elbow. She knew they were only doing what they had been ordered to do, but she still found the close attention annoying. 

Still, she had the scroll now. Another one to cross off her list. A dozen or more to collect from their scattered hiding places. 

_I wonder why Father never gathered them together._ _Oh well, I just need to find the remainder, then I can read them to find out the hidden mysteries of HajinMon, at least that's what he told me. I hope it proves worth the effort, Genra-sama._

__

__Carefully slipping the tattered and brittle scroll into one of the cases she carried with her, and closing the panel so it was as if it had never been opened, Ayane turned to leave, her escorts close at hand. The three moved silently from the blackened and shattered remains of the HajinMon dojo, destroyed during DOATEC's capture of Genra the previous year. 

Within minutes, there was no trace that anyone had been there, just dust sifting down from the charred rafters overhead ..... 

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_Jinja_ - Shinto shrine 

_Torii_ - the long bar across two posts outside the entrance to a Jinja. It symbolises leaving the earthly realm and entering a place of spiritual purity 


	2. Chapter 1 A Voice From The Past

DISCLAIMER: 

The characters from Dead or Alive belong to Team Ninja. All others are mine. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copy write to me. 

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at 

_italics_ indicates unusual words or characters' thoughts 

**Darkness Of HajinMon - Chapter 1 - A Voice from the past**

****

_My Beloved Ayane,_

__

_If you are reading this letter, then I am dead. I am sorry for leaving you, and wish that I could be with you, but it seems that the Kami have other plans for me._

__

_There is something I must ask you to do for me, now that I can no longer carry out the task myself. The HajinMon sect is dying. We both know that. The TenjinMon school is favoured by new students, who are put off our school by the talk of their elders about the 'darkness' which surrounds practitioners of our art, and the feeling that HajinMon is obsolete. I do not wish to see the legacy passed down to me lost forever. I will not have HajinMon die!_

__

_Several years ago, I discovered that what we were teaching in our dojo was not the sum total of the HajinMon teachings. I came across a letter that told me that ancient scrolls existed which contained within them techniques lost to us, techniques far more powerful than those taught in our dojo - techniques whose rediscovery would rejuvenate the HajinMon ryu._

__

_These scrolls were, for some reason which the letter did not disclose, hidden away in secret shrines within the mountains and forests of the Land of the Rising Sun. It also made reference to a ritual, or set of rituals, which had to be performed, though the letter did not divulge why they were important._

__

_The scrolls I have recovered, I have hidden within the HajinMon dojo where I taught you as a child. Recover them, then seek out the remainder._

__

_My child, my deepest regret is that I could not spend more time with you. You were, you are, my daughter in every sense, and I know that you see me as your father. Unfortunately our duties to the clan have meant that we could not spend as much time together as we would both have wished._

__

_Farewell, my daughter. May you live a long and happy life._

__

_Genra._

__

_"Only a heart unburdened by temporal loyalties can see what is right and what is wrong. All else is conceit." (1)_

__

__A slender hand reached up to brush away a stray tear which had fallen onto a pale cheek. 

__

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------_

__

__Sunlight slanted down between the tall tress, insects hummed as they went about their business, birds called to one another, and the heady scent of damp earth filled the air. The rain during the night had certainly rejuvenated the forest, Ayane thought to herself. 

Sitting on the fallen tree which lay not far from her house in the forest, the lavender-haired girl studied the faded script of the scroll, careful not to crack the parchment more than it had already. The writing was blurred by time, the lettering bleached from black to grey and smudged from previous study by persons unknown. Crimson eyes narrowed in concentration as the _kanji_ letters refused to give up their secrets easily. 

_It's a good thing that I was taught the secret code of HajinMon, otherwise I wouldn't have known how to decipher this scroll. I think .... no, wait ... yes, I was right! There's something about a waterfall, and a series of caves in the rock face over which the water drops, and on the ... I think it must be Southern slope ..... one of the old shrines. And there are more scrolls hidden there ...._

__

She raised her head suddenly and, without looking round, said quietly "Hayabusa." 

"Ayane." The super-ninja dropped from the trees, landing silently twenty feet from the kunoichi. He straightened up and looked steadily at her. 

_I suppose I should have known that she would sense my presence. She did not become the best assassin in the Mugen Tenshin, if not the best of any of the ninja clans, without honing all of the skills a ninja may use._

__

__She turned to face him, noting with amused detachment that he was, of course, dressed in no colour other than black. _A real surprise, that. And people ask me about my purple fixation! _She ran her hand absent-mindedly over her own faded lilac jeans and purple tee-shir_t._

__

__"I take it you're here for a reason." 

He nodded. "Your brother sent me. Apparently, a number of bodies have been found in the woods not far from here. They were dressed in ninja garb, and had died from a mixture of blows from blunt objects, such as fists and feet, and cuts from a very sharp blade. Your doing?" _As if it was likely to be anyone else's doing._

The super ninja didn't know of anyone else in this part of the ancient forest who would have the skill to defeat a score of attackers and live, other than himself. And since it had not been him who had killed them .... 

She shrugged, the movement stirring her short, soft hair. "Renegades. They attacked me, I defended myself. A couple escaped, for the moment. End of story." She looked up at him, red eyes meeting emerald green. "I'm surprised Hayate-sama cared enough to ask you to come." 

He sighed. _I hope she won't make this difficult. I really don't need this. _"Despite what you might think, your brother cares for you. He had to exile you for disobeying him, you know that. And he simply doesn't have the time to visit you. You could go and see him, you know. The terms of your exile allow you to enter clan territory twice yearly without needing an escort or a summons from Hayate or Kasumi."  
  
She shrugged. "I could, but I won't. No, thank you for the invitation, but I'll pass. I'd rather listen to the song of the birds and the hum of the insects than visit the clan again." 

He sighed again._ She just won't accept that anyone cares for her - Hayate, even Kasumi. No, she feels she has to be alone all the time. Then again though, who am I to criticise someone who wants solitude?_

__

_"_Since you're my brother's messenger, you can go back and tell him I'm fine. They only inflicted a few minor wounds, nothing life-threatening." Her soft voice cut across his thoughts, and he blinked and looked back at her. He studied her, the tiredness evident on her face, yet also the determination and resolve, and knew that nothing he said would change her mind. 

Bringing the conversation to an end, she got to her feet, placed the ragged piece of parchment back into its case, and silently headed for her house. "Goodbye, Hayabusa." 

He watched her walk into the ramshackle building, noting the faded paint and general air of imminent collapse. _I wonder why she doesn't live anywhere better?_ _Perhaps she simply doesn't spend enough time here for it to be worth the effort of making the place more habitable._

__

_Or maybe she has so few visitors, it isn't worth the effort involved in smartening it up ...._

__

------------------------------------------------ 

"Left hand, then right. Left, right! Try to keep the tempo up!" 

The loud voice of the instructor could be heard from quiet a distance, and Ayane smiled to herself. She remembered having to go through the same basic training, though she had started late in life, the clan having been reluctant to train her. It hadn't been until Genra adopted her that she had gotten properly trained. 

She walked into the tiny village and looked around. This was the new home of the HajinMon sect, ever since the destruction of the main _dojo_ by DOATEC. There were few HajinMon practitioners left now, less than fifty people here all told, even including those who would never see active duty as ninjas. 

Outcasts, every one. Those who the clan did not want for various reasons. Much like Ayane herself. 

_That's probably why this is the only place I'm willing to visit of my own volition. I feel at home here, in a way - here, I'm just one outcast amongst many._

__

__She walked amongst the small, shabby-looking buildings. People who saw her nodded their heads in greeting, without the scowls and glares she normally got. There were none of the lust-filled leers, none of the jeers and insults she received from the majority of the Mugen-Tenshin. Here she was not looked down on, but simply accepted. She had no close friends here, any more than she had friends elsewhere, but here at least she had no enemies. 

A young boy, running fast, collided with her and bounced off, his eyes going wide when he saw who he'd run into. 

"M-my apologies, Ayane-sama! I didn't see you!" 

She reached out to ruffle his hair. "And what sort of young ninja doesn't keep his eyes open, hmm?" She smiled briefly at the boy. "Remember, a Shinobi stays alert at all times." 

"Hai, _sensei!"_(2) He bowed low to her, and ran off to join the rest of his class, though taking more care to watch where he went. She smiled to herself and walked on. 

And there was the man she'd come to see. 

"Kagero!" 

The one-eyed man turned, and smiled when he saw her, the scar across his mouth twisting his lips into a grimace. 

"Ayane! It's been far too long since we saw you here. What's the occasion?" 

"I have to talk to you." 

"Of course. You are the top-ranked in HajinMon, I am only the second, you do not need my permission to talk." He looked down at her from a height advantage of eight inches. He noted that she'd lost a little weight, but seemed healthy enough, apart from the dark rings around her eyes. _She must not be sleeping well._

"Ah, but I do not lead the school, you do. We both know I'd be a very bad leader ... " 

Kagero shook his head. "I've seen how well you work with the children here. They admire you, look up to you, idolise you. After all, at the last Dead Or Alive tournament, you beat both Kasumi and Hayate, defeated Hayabusa, then killed Omega. Who else in the clan could do that?" He watched her face harden at the mention of Omega, and told himself to avoid the subject in future. 

She shrugged, a weak attempt at dissemblance. "I did what I had to do." Praise always made her uncomfortable. She had so infrequently been the recipient of genuine praise that she didn't know how to handle it. She tried to deflect the attention elsewhere. "The children seem to be doing well in their lessons." She gestured at the youngsters working on basic self-defence techniques nearby. 

He looked at her shrewdly. "You do realise that, if the rest of the clan found out how well you get on with children you're teaching, it'd ruin your reputation as a bad-tempered, violent, antisocial bitch?" 

She glared at him. "So don't tell them!" She seized his arm in a tight grip, and pulled the grinning older man towards the _dojo_. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"So, what brings you here?" 

They both at on the polished wooden floor, swords placed by their sides in a gesture of trust, steaming cups of tea in front of them. 

She took a sip of the hot beverage, then placed the cup back down and looked into his eyes. "I have to leave for a while. A long while." 

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh? Has something of importance come up, or has your _chunin_(3) given you a task to perform?" 

She shook her head. "Neither. I ... have come into information which I believe must be followed up. I feel that I am the best person to do so." 

"Why is that?" 

"Because my father, Genra, asked me to do so." She waited for him to correct her, but he remained silent, so she pressed on. "The information is that what we teach in the HajinMon _dojo_ is but a pale shadow of the full power of our art, that there are secret techniques which have been lost until now. I intend seeking them out and bringing them back." 

"Have you informed your brother of your mission?" 

"No, and neither will I do so." 

He stared at her in surprise. "Why not?" 

"Because my _half-_brother would not approve. He thinks our art to be tainted, unlike his precious TenjinMon school. You know as well as I that he, and the Elders of the clan, discourage those who wish to follow HajinMon. He wishes our art to die." 

She closed her eyes for several seconds, then sighed deeply and looked at the older man. "This business does not truly concern him. He is not of HajinMon." 

Kagero frowned at her. "He leads the Mugen-Tenshin clan and is the head of your family. You owe him obedience on those terms." 

She glared at him. "You forget, I am in exile. As an exile, I am not formally considered to be part of the clan anymore, therefore I am not subject to the edicts of its head unless I am in clan territory -which, as we both know, this _dojo_ is not, it being built outside clan boundaries." 

She closed her eyes once more, taking a deep breath. "Ayame, the mother of Hayate and Kasumi, has declared that she does not consider me hers, or want me (4). In which case, I am not related to either of them, and I have no family other than myself. Only the HajinMon school can still claim my allegiance." 

She climbed gracefully to her feet, and waited for him to rise too. She looked at him steadily. "I tell you this, and only you, because only the HajinMon have not rejected me. I must retrieve these scrolls, and restore our art to its former glory. Farewell, Kagero-san." 

"Farewell, Ayane-sama." 

They both bowed deeply, then she turned and left the _dojo._

----------------------------------------------------------- 

Note : This story follows on from my one-shot story, 'Mother's Day'. As noted in that story, after a heroic mission which saved the clan, Kasumi was pardoned and allowed to return, but Ayane, exiled for disobeying Hayate and slaying Genra, wasn't - another example of the favouritism shown Kasumi by the clan. 

(1) Shinobi proverb 

(2) Teacher. 

(3) Shinobi rank - literally, 'middle man'. The junior ninjas, the ones actually sent on field missions, were '_Genin_', or 'low men', whilst the leader of a Shinobi ryu was the _Jonin - _in the case of the Mugen-Tenshin, that would be Hayate's rank_._

__

__(4) 'Mother's Day' 


	3. Chapter 2 A Shadow On The Sun

DISCLAIMER: 

The characters from Dead or Alive belong to Team Ninja. All others are mine. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copy write to me. 

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at 

_italics_ indicates unusual words or characters' thoughts 

**Darkness Of HajinMon - Chapter 2 - A Shadow on the Sun**

****

She surfaced, letting the cold mountain water stream down her naked body, washing away the sweat of her morning exercise routine. The water was chill against her skin, but she welcomed the cold. It invigorated her, made her feel refreshed and alive. 

She climbed out of the stream, pausing to run her hands over herself to sweep away the clinging water droplets, then rubbed herself down with her towel before putting on her black leather costume, and easing her pack onto her back. Though small, it contained everything she might need for her journey to the shrine on the old map. She intended traveling light, living off the land. 

_Think of it as a wilderness survival training exercise._

__

__She lifted her head to glance in the direction of the Sun, taking her bearings before setting off. Then she took a deep breath, and began to run in the direction indicated by the map. 

--------------------------------------------- 

She set a medium pace, aiming for endurance and distance rather than pace, breathing deeply as she ran in order to maximize the oxygen entering her bloodstream. The rough terrain made stamina more important than speed. 

The bright sun filtered down through the trees, illuminating the mountain slopes with a bright yellow glow. Insects buzzed around her as she ran, their bodies dancing like motes of gold. Birds took to the air as she ran past, calling out their alarm signals. She ignored them. In this instance, stealth was not a priority, and she had other things on her mind than appreciation of the beauty of Nature. 

The expectation of violence came top of the list. There were small gangs of bandits hiding in the woods, including some renegades from various shinobi clans. Indeed, it had been a group of such renegades which she'd killed a few days earlier, after they had attacked her when she went to draw water for her daily needs. 

Her hand strayed to the hilt of her sword. The straight-bladed _ninja-to_ had been presented to her by her foster-father, Genra, just before she had gone to train under the guidance of Master Murai. He had sent her away because he had known that, if she had stayed with the clan, she would never have completed her training - too many people wanted her to fail. 

_Damn Kasumi! I don't care if she was angry, she had no right to say that! And then she left to find Hayate, and there was no place for me with the clan, not anymore. Damn her! And damn Raidou, for hurting Hayate and for being my father!_

__

__She pushed the thoughts from her mind - they served no use now. Though there had been a degree of rapprochement between her sister and herself, Ayane still felt hurt by her sister's betrayal. (1) And she could no longer bring herself to trust Kasumi, no matter how much her older sister tried to apologize. 

_You turned on me once, you could do it again._

__

_Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me._

__

__

__Hands cupped, she splashed the cool water onto her sweaty face, washing away the grime of her travels. She had pushed herself, to cover as much ground as possible, her steady pace designed to eat up the distance like the loping run of a wolf. 

_All those endurance exercises seem to have paid off. I'm glad that Father was a strict instructor. Without his harsh, even brutal, training methods, I'd never have made up for all the time lost when the rest of the clan wouldn't see me trained properly._

_He may have pushed me till I dropped, but it's paid off in the long run_. 

_I miss him. I always will_. 

She reached for her pack, lying by the side of the stream. Then she paused. She felt herself under scrutiny. Hostile scrutiny. With a slight, unnoticeable movement, she twitched a muscle in her right arm, causing the grasping end of a long, pointed throwing spike to slip down into her hand. She waited a second, then felt the hostile attention focussed upon her surge, felt her senses scream _danger!_, and spun to the side, right hand snapping sideways. 

There was a loud bang, and the crack of a bullet passing through where she had been crouched a split second earlier. It was immediately followed by the thud of her spike striking home, and the agonized scream of its target. Spinning to face her attacker, she saw two men, one holding a gun, her spike in his chest, doubling over, a bloody foam starting to spill from the corner of his mouth. The other man held a length of wood with nails protruding from it. They were both shabbily dressed, and looked undernourished and dirty - the mark of bandits. As the gunman collapsed, his partner looked at Ayane, eyes wide. Then he dived for the gun. 

She was quicker. Already moving forward before the uninjured man had moved, she dived forward, her hand striking the man on the side of the throat, fingers outstretched and locked rigid. The momentum of her attack drove the blow home with lethal force, crushing his windpipe. He fell gurgling on the grass. 

Rolling to her feet, the purple-haired _kunoichi_ stepped behind the collapsing gunman, pulled him back against her knee, grasped his head in her strong hands, and twisted. There was a loud cracking sound, and he jerked once, before going limp. 

Then she stepped over to the second man, and brought her booted foot down onto his chest with crushing strength. The sound of breaking ribs, and the eruption of blood from his mouth, told her he would no longer be a threat. 

Not even breathing hard, she pulled her throwing spike from its victim, and wiped it clean on the green grass, before returning it to the holder on the inside of her forearm. She felt no guilt for killing the men - they had tried to slay her, and had paid the price. 

_If you don't like the consequences, don't start the fight. ....._

__

__Bandits, wanted criminals, and such like - they tended to hide in the mountains, hoping to evade detection. They had no idea that ninja clans dwelt there as well. If they stumbled across the clans, they would be eliminated for security reasons. And sometimes they would find 'victims' who were far more deadly than themselves. These two had thought to ambush a lone, vulnerable traveler, and had paid for their actions with their lives. It was of no matter to Ayane. She lived, they did not. 

__

__Without so much as a backward glance, she picked up her pack, settled it on her shoulders, then set off, leaving two cooling bodies in the bright sunshine. 

-------------------------------------------------------- 

The sun touched the horizon, turning the sky red, as Ayane made camp. She felt tired from the fast pace she had set, but there was something she had been wishing to try ever since she'd read about it in the old scroll. In the morning, she would have the opportunity. 

The fire was small, so as not to attract curious eyes. The shelter was set away from the circle of light. Her pack was concealed high in the branches of the surrounding trees, out of the reach of prowling animals. 

She slowly ate the small meal, savouring every mouthful. She hadn't used her supply of trail rations, instead gathering fresh food from the surrounding area. She once again thanked her teaching for allowing her to live off the land. 

She ate her food uncooked, after the traditional ninja belief that cooking food took the goodness out of it. She took her time, savouring the different flavours and textures of the meal, sipping water gathered from a stream on the way - she always refilled her water skins whenever possible, to ensure her water remained fresh and sweet, and to guarantee that she would never run out unless under adverse conditions. 

The lavender-haired girl lay back on the ground, gazing up at the stars. There were no clouds in the sky, and the stars shone brightly down, a cold glitter of tiny jewels. She strained her eyes to make out the faintest ones, and strove to remember the names of the constellations, the stories they embodied, and how to navigate by them. 

Ayane loved the night, at least when she was alone. No inane chatter to disturb her contemplation, no noisy people to break her concentration. Alone, there was utter silence, just the sounds of Nature - the wind through the trees, the calls of night birds, the rustle of leaves as nocturnal creatures went about their business in the blackness. She loved it. Here, there were no insults, no curses, no glares or salacious looks or obscene comments. Here, there was purity. 

When Genra had lived, she had often lain under the stars with him, listening to his stories, asking questions of her beloved foster-father. He was the only one she had ever enjoyed observing the stars with, the only one whose voice she had loved to listen to. He had given her so much. 

The thought of him, and of his death, brought a tear to her eye. 

She hurriedly wiped it away. Though there was no-one about to remark on it, Ayane had long since learnt to suppress any sign of weakness, lest it encourage those who would hurt her to redouble their efforts. Only by appearing unconcerned by their taunts and insults could she hope to cause them to stop. It had become so ingrained that she acted untouched by emotion, even when she had no need to. 

Genra's words echoed in her mind ; _"when you have bad people around you, your attitude should be that Heaven has sent them to you for a trial ... to give you a chance to prove yourself."_ (2) 

The words made her uncomfortable - she felt that, too often, she had failed to prove herself, instead reacting with anger when they had called her 'half-breed', or said that Ayame hadn't been raped, but had submitted to Raidou voluntarily and had then lied to avoid bringing dishonour upon herself. Ayane had reacted to those taunts with angry words, and fights had often started, either begun by herself or in response to her words. 

She schooled her thoughts to still themselves, and looked back at the stars overhead. Here she came closest to that state of tranquility and oneness with the world that shinobi teachings, descended as they were from Buddhist philosophy, held to be that perfect state that the ninja should try to attain. 

Here, as nowhere else, Ayane could be at peace. 

-------------------------------------------------------- 

The sun had not yet climbed above the peaks of the mountains when Ayane awoke. The young woman stretched, feeling the ache in her muscles from the pace she'd set over hard going the previous day. Normally she would set out at a slower pace today, in order not to weary herself before she reached her destination. But now she had the opportunity to try the new spell she'd learnt from the scroll that had been hidden in the _dojo_ destroyed by DOATEC during Genra's capture. 

She closed her eyes, calling the words to mind. Then she opened her eyes and raised her hands. As she began to chant, she sketched _kanji _characters in the air before her 

They hung there, drawn in scarlet fire, symbols of power, their magic contained, for now. As she drew them, she felt the growing power within them, the mystical force barely constrained by her will. Soon, it would be unleashed. 

She was reaching the end now, her voice sure and commanding. Her long, slender fingers moved, tracing patterns in the air, and it was done. The words complete, the symbols finished, the spell needing only the trigger. 

She focussed her mind, and triggered the power within the letters. 

It was a fire, burning through her body, sweeping through her like a flash flood, liquid fire that ignited everything it touched. And it swept away the fatigue, revitalized her better than a day's sleep would have done. 

She felt her sense expand, felt tiredness drop from her like a snake shedding its' skin. She was alive, as she'd never felt alive before. 

A scream of pure ecstasy rose to her lips. But she swallowed it down. Even now, her innate caution wouldn't allow her to make any noise that might alert an enemy to her presence. 

_Is this what it's like to take Ecstasy, or_ _to have an orgasm? I wouldn't know either way. But the feeling! God, I've never felt anything like this!_

__

With a gasp, she brought herself back to the present. Looking around, she noticed that everything seemed clearer than before, edges were sharper, colours more vibrant, scents more pungent, sounds more distinct. It was as if she had suddenly gained the senses of wild animals, seeing and hearing and smelling things she'd not previously noticed. 

This it was that the spell was designed to do - to reinvigorate the caster, to drive fatigue away and to give them strength and endurance greater than they had normally. Ayane could tell that it had worked, and worked far better than she had imagined. She smiled. 

_This is one spell I'll be using on a regular basis from now on. To pass up the advantage that this will give me would be stupid._ _I can travel faster than before, and still be rested when I set off the next day._

__

__She moved to pick up her pack, then paused. It seemed to the ninja girl that some shadow had passed over the Sun, as the light in the little clearing had seemed to dim for a second, and the temperature had dropped. She looked up, but saw nothing overhead, no wisp of cloud to block the sunlight. 

_There must be some high altitude cloud blocking the light, then._

But she couldn't shake the sudden conviction that there was something else at work, that something had just happened which she didn't understand, but had a bearing on her. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, as if in the presence of danger, though she had no way of knowing where the danger lay. 

And now she felt that she was being watched, that .... something .... had focussed its attention upon her, though what, and why, she had no idea. 

_Whatever it is .... it seemed to happen when I cast the spell. Maybe it's some kind of side effect, one the scroll didn't mention._

She hurriedly retrieved her pack from its' place in the branches, shouldered it, stamped out her little fire, and headed off into the forest, towards where the map indicated that the old shrine lay. 

She steadfastly refused to look back over her shoulder as she went. 

_-------------- end of chapter 2 -------------------------------------------_

__

__(1) - a different take on the feud between them. I'll explain what happened between them in a later chapter. Suffice it to say, in this timeline, the feud started, not in childhood, but about the time of DOA1 .... 

(2) - actually a quote from Hatsumi Masaaki 


End file.
